This is very new to me and i am struggling to let go of old thoughts

Billy Graham had a friend at his seminary, named Charles Templeton. Templeton was also a preacher, a popular one, and apparently sincere. Yet, Templeton in the end was convinced by evolutionary theory to abandon his faith, and wrote a book about why he became an atheist. Billy Graham did not become an atheist, but kept his faith in God in spite of evolutionary teachings. Templeton was not convinced to become an atheist by christian evolutionary apologists, nor by young earth creationists, but by the facts of evolution itself and his own confrontation with the dilemna. This is precisely one of the main reasons that YEC point out the holes and deficiencies of evolutionary theory, in order to support the faith of believers, and in particular to provide a counterpoint to the common evolutionary arguments for atheism, or at least for the irrelevancy of a god who has little to do with creation.

Biologos is trying to do something similar, to protect the faith of those confronted with evolution, by developing a synthesis between evolutionary theory and scriptural creation, including the fall and sin of man, which necessitates a redemption that goes beyond mere naturalism.

Which of these two approaches is the right one, which is closer to the truth, is the question. And the debate.

@johnZ, @Eddie, @BradKramer
I believe in the Holy Bible and accept Jesus as my Savior. I am only saying we weren’t at the creation; therefore, we do not know the method our Lord used to create life in our world and perhaps in other worlds. BioLogos sounds Christian to me. I do not believe in Darwinian evolution. There must be a First Cause and that was God. No, Billy Graham is willing to accept various ways God could have created the universe. Yes, atheistic evolutionists have it all wrong; however, BioLogos has some very fine Christian members. As for Chuck Templeton, his was a sad case. Perhaps he was never saved. Since I am a Southern Baptist Conservative in Virginia, I do accept the God of our universe. If you wish to believe in Young Creationism or any Christian view, that is fine. One member of BioLogos is a former Dean of Regent University School of Divinity. He has no problem with BioLogos and is an Assemblies of God minister. Rev. Pat Robertson also believes in Old Earth Creationism . Perhaps God will tell us when we go to heaven just how it was done. Also, I wish to mention that I am a linguist. I believe that languages continue to change and there is historical evidence for it. Look at Latin and compare it to French! Look at English and High German. I speak them both, and they come from the same source. The Tower of Babel may have been the beginning of language change; however, evolution directed by the Triune God has continued the process. I still support the view that language is part of Theistic Evolution, since the human brain controls language and it is a biological unit. I have been asked to state why I am changing this. I have thought about what was originally written and decided that I said some things that were un-Christlike. No one is perfect, and I ask all of you to forgive a sinful human being. Anyone can come short of the glory of God. God bless all and take care.

@johnZ,@Eddie,@BradKramer

I just wanted to say one other thing, John. If my previous message was a little harsh sounding, I really did not attend that to be the case. I realize you may have questions, and you would like to discuss them. There is nothing wrong with that. You are a thinker, and I respect that in a person. Study the issues at hand and make a decision that is comfortable for you. No one is always going to accept exactly the same views. Perhaps I was being a bit judgment myself and I apologize for that. Good luck in your studies. I still cannot believe that human beings and dinosaurs lived together; however, I was not there. Only our Creator knows what the answer is for that. Can science determine that? We shall have to wait and see. Remember that Piltdown man was a fraud. C.S. Lewis knew that long before the scientists did!

@Eddie,

You are 100% correct. I thank you for your wise answer to this issue. Take care.

@johnZ,

Billy did not attend a theological seminary; on the contrary, he attended Florida Bible College and received a bachelor of theology. He then attended Wheaton College in Illinois and received a bachelor of arts in anthropology. He was, however, offered a scholarship to Princeton Theological Seminary for an MDiv degree. He decided that his ministry for the Lord was more important and declined the offer. Chuck Templeton went to Princeton for his MDiv and PhD. He then became a professor and a dean there; however, liberalism in that school changed his thinking. That was the beginning of Dr. Templeton’s downfall. I remember when he hosted the program on CBS entitled " Look Up and Live." Unfortunately, he did not follow his own teaching. Chuck was a great speaker and could have been a great tool for Jesus, but he failed himself and the Lord instead.

Henry, yes you were a bit harsh, but thankyou for your clarification. It is ironic that Billy did not attend a seminary while Templeton did… And that it was the liberal seminary that possibly steered Templeton away from God rather than bringing him closer to God. In any case, if they did not attend the same seminary, yet they knew each other, and I was given the impression they were friends. And theologically I agree that if he denied God in the end, perhaps Templeton was never with Christ… but again I hesitate to spend much time in judging another man’s heart.

And I certainly did not say or intend to imply that you are an atheist. By no means! I was only trying to explain the motivations between YEC and biologos, and say that they both have the same motivations, even though they have different solutions and different interpretations. Templeton simply highlights the seriousness of the impact of common uncritical evolutionary thought.

We are encouraged not to be too judgemental, but yet we must be discerning, which is a type of judgement. If we see many people holding up evolution as a proof of the lack of reliability of scripture, and a proof of the lack of a creating and sustaining God, then we can not ignore their concern under the umbrella of “not being judgemental”. So all I am saying is that biologos and YEC are paying attention to this issue with entirely different solutions. Biologos says that evolution happened but God did it. YEC says that evolution is not all it is cracked up to be. Both are arguing that God exists, that he created, that he designed it, that he upholds it and maintains it. However, there are implications for the reliability of scripture, and for our theology of sin, death and resurrection.

I would also caution you not to conflate change (as with language) with evolution. It is an entirely different meaning of the word. Social change should not be confused with biological evolution, as they are entirely different things. They ocassionally could be related, as with the inability of some people to easily pronounce “r” or “th”, but even so, they are not the same thing.

@John,

You are correct concerning Billy and Chuck. They were friends and went to the same Bible College for the bachelor of theology degree; however, Chuck Templeton went on to get his Master of Divinity and PhD at Princeton Seminary and Billy never went there as a student. I understand that Billy visited Chuck there several times; however, I do not believe he was pleased with the changes he saw in Dr. Templeton. Neo-orthodoxy and liberalism really can mess a person up. I understand now what you were saying and I wish to apologize once more. Take care and God bless.

Henry W.

@Roger_Patterson,

I just wanted to say hello.

Henry

@everyone,

I have decided to leave the blog. I have no ill-will for any one of you. I am just tired. Discussion can be interesting and a learning experience; however, my earthly tent is tired. My wife and I are celebrating our fifteenth wedding anniversary tonight at Collinswood Baptist Church in Portsmouth, Virginia. We are going to renew our wedding vows and we are looking forward to it. Nancy has been working so hard to prepare things. I believe that we all will have a nice time. Don’t be deceived; Nancy and I married in our forties. It took us a good while to find one another. I am not feeling well now. Diabetes has a way of weakening one. Enjoy your conversations of philosophy, science, theology, and the like. God made a wonderful thing when he made the human brain. Think of all the things that it can do. How quickly it can have thoughts and ideas. Perhaps we have a soul or perhaps there is instantaneous resurrection. If instantaneous resurrection is true, we are monist creations. The Hebrew word for soul, which is nephesh, does seem to indicate a psychosomatic unity. We are a soul; we do not just have one. Anthony Hoekema, a theologian, does believe this view. He does not believe in instantaneous resurrection; on the contrary, he says that God is able to take us to heaven before the resurrection. It is sometimes called a soul or spirit; however, the Bible is just saying that we continue to exist after death and before the resurrection. It does not explain “How.” God bless and enjoy your discussions. Oh, Henry Wynns was an ancestor of mine who died two hundred years ago. It is also my pseudonym. My real name is Charles Edward Miller, Jr.

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@everyone,

I wish to thank John for his kind statement about my last entry. We had a good time tonight and I love my wife more than ever. God sent me to the right woman fifteen years ago and I have never regreted it. So many wonderful people were there. I wish all of you could have been there too. If you are ever in Portsmouth, Virginia and you are looking for a church, please feel free to consider Collinswood Baptist Church. God bless, Charles Miller aka Henry Wynns

Henry, I have appreciated your comments and your attitude. We may possibly be in Virginia next September, and perhaps we will look up Portsmouth.

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